As a signatory to a treaty, the U.S. must periodically appear before the committee governing that treaty to give an update on how it is implementing those treaty provisions here at home. The United States must submit a periodic report and appear before the committee to answer questions by committee members based on its periodic report and shadow reports submitted by civil society. Shadow Reports are an important tool used by civil society to provide United Nations committees with important information regarding areas of concern.

At the end of the U.S. session, the committee will submit its findings known as its concluding observations. The U.S. is then expected to move forward in implementing the committee recommendations outlined in the concluding observations. This brings me to the CERD Committee hearing in August 2014. The U.S. was required to submit its periodic report and appear before the CERD Committee to inform whether we have been compliant with the provisions outlined in this treaty. ICERD is specifically focused on the elimination of racial discrimination on a systemic level. So what happened during this session? The United States submitted its combined 7th, 8th and 9th Periodic Reports in one document to the Committee;

The United States sent a delegation to Geneva, Switzerland where the session was held;

At the end of the U.S. session the CERD Committee submitted its concluding observations report. The report acknowledged the progress the U.S. has made as well as many concerns such as issues of education, police brutality, the right to vote, racial profiling, immigration, detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and violence against women.

The U.S. is expected to seriously consider the Committee’s concluding observations and implement all recommendations.

So why is all this important? Who is going to make the U.S. implement provisions of this treaty and the Committee’s recommendations?Well, there is no “international police” that will make the U.S. or any country implement the provisions of ICERD or any human rights treaty. When the U.S. becomes a signatory to an international treaty, the global community as well as U.S. citizens rely on the integrity, character and intent of the U.S. to fully comply with the treaty’s provisions and all recommendations and rulings provided by the treaty’s governing body. In other words the world relies on the word of the United States. When the U.S. has not complied with the provisions of a treaty, there is the potential for the international community to shame the U.S. by highlighting our discrepencies. This may not seem like a big deal on the surface, however in reality there is a huge cost to being shamed by the international community. Look at it this way, the United States considers itself to be a beacon of light and a strong influence on the enforcement of civil rights and human rights on the world stage. We helped to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after World War II. To many we are the symbol of freedom in the world. So what does it mean when we appear before the CERD committee and nearly 100 shadow reports are submitted by civil society stating that we struggle deeply with issues of racial injustice? What does it mean when U.S. citizens appear before a United Nations Committee to tell their stories of painful loss because of racial discrimination? What does it mean when the Committee releases its final report outlining deficits in our judicial system centered around race, class and culture?In my opinion, exposure of our deep struggles with race and class in front of the United Nations minimizes our ability to maintain a positive role in upholding civil and human rights everywhere in the world. I ask myself all the time how we can claim to be the beacon of light and symbol of freedom worldwide when our own citizens lack access to justice and equality. Everyone in America is impacted and the events that unfolded in Ferguson, Missouri is a good example. Not only has a young African American man lost his life, the image and integrity of law enforcement has yet again been demonized and challenged. I feel in my humble heart that America is the most beautiful country in the world. We are great and we have the most dynamic citizens. We have the strength and the power to do better. As citizens we have a powerful voice and we should use it to ensure that our system is just, fair and equitable. We should use our voice to ensure that people of color and women are treated with dignity and respect. We can do that, it is in us. We can use our voice to show the rest of the world that we are the example to follow. This will require more soul searching and more activism by citizens and fair and equitable laws and policies. At the end of the day, we Americans must remember two things: we can do better and the world is always watching.Finally, the United States is scheduled to appear before the United Nations Committee Against Torture in November for its 53rd session. If you are interested in learning more, I will be writing about this session in November.Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post. Please let me know if you have any questions or thoughts!Peace